Emirates announced it had ordered 150 of Boeing's 777X planes at the Dubai Air Show last year.

Sash Tusa, aerospace and defence analyst at Edison Investment Research, said the move by Emirates was real blow to Airbus, "with the loss of a 70 A350 wide-body plane order coming just as rival Boeing's 777X has been launched".

"It gives the unavoidable conclusion that the world's largest and most influential long-haul airline sees the 777X as the wide-bodied twin of the future," he said.